31
May
Langkawi to Samui
Yes, we are now back in Thailand! For our first glimpse at the Thai islands. But of course before we could get to Koh Samui we had to make our way up Thailand through the ‘deep south’ to Surat Thani to catch a ferry.
Malaysia’s attitude to taking money off you is so laid back compared to Thailand. Instead of the rows of booths with people behind glass trying to sell you bus tickets, our first glimpse of Thailand (after immigration) was a smarmy tout wearing enough gel to give a wholly mammoth a fashionable hairstyle. He spent a few minutes trying to convince us our only option to get to Hat Yai was to give him 1400baht. Once he realised that wasn’t getting him anywhere he moved onto trying to get us to pay 300baht, then 200baht for a ride to the nearby bus station.
Needless to say we said no, and approached the nearby songtheaw (a pick up with bench seats in the back). As we did, he shouted something to the driver in Thai. I thought “I bet he is saying charge them 200baht”. The driver looks round, “200baht”. “Bastard” I said to myself in my head. I smiled and said “thats expensive”, the driver laughed a little bit embarrassed and said “yes, yes it is”. “I think we will get a lift from a taxi on the road then”. “OK! 50 baht”. The tout looked disappointed, the driver didn’t seem to mind. I assume he doesn’t like him either.
Once we get on board we are faced by three brits and a Dutchman. After a few minutes of conversation we find out that they live on the road next to the road we used to live on in Norwich, Norfolk. Small bloody world. They had watched us talking to the driver and started asking us about prices. They booked everything through a travel agent in Langkawi and had just realised how expensive it was. They had to pay extra in the office in Satun, they then eventually paid the driver from the ferry to the bus station, then paid someone for the next part of the journey once they reached the bus station but they were not sure who he was. They were talking to each other trying to work out what they had actually paid for back in Langkawi other than the boat ticket. I think everyone except the Dutch guy accepted it as a mistake and were moving on with their lives but he was clearly annoyed, probably because he had been telling us about his extensive travel experience before finding out how much we were paying by doing it ourselves.
Oops.
Oh well, we said that our philosophy was usually to avoid tourist agencies like a clown in a rikety van offering sweets. We were also talking about the stories you hear of people hiding in the luggage compartment of the dodgier bus companies buses so they can go through the bags. They would be disappointed going through my bag and only getting a Padi book on wreck diving or a pair of my pants. I doubt there is much of a secondhand market for either.
The journey was not the worst we have done, but by the 7th hour on our second bus in one day we were done. We arrived in Surat Thani at 9pm, in a random part of town (not the bus station, which seems like a reasonable place for a bus to stop). The bus had broken down twice, but luckily effective bus engineering is hitting it with something and shouting at it in Thai. When we arrived in Surat Thani we didn’t really have a choice but to climb into the metaphorical rickety van (ironically getting out of a real rickety bus to do so) and go into a tourist agency. We knew how much the ferry ticket was and paid 50baht more to do it this way. This way included a lift to the ferry in the morning though, and a ride to the nearest cheap hotel.
The journey the next day was the usual affair. Groups of tourists being ferried around like sheep in and out of buses or ferries until eventually we arrive on Koh Samui.
Which is where we still are, the overly touristy and not overly backpacker friendly Koh Samui. The cheap bungalows from many years ago have been knocked down and replaced by anything they can charge more for. Street vendors have gone and replaced by Italian restaurants or Irish pubs. Still, the good things do exist though, and a 10 minute walk from the beach inland puts you in the middle of the Thai area the two week tourists don’t dare to do into. It also has a nice stretch of beach, even if it is a little busy.
Tomorrow we are doing a tour of the nearby marine park, so today was filled with a different (read: cheaper) distraction. A local charity runs a dog and cat shelter, and they ask for people to come in to give the animals some attention. Not a problem. Three hours of our day was taken up with being mobbed by big groups of attention hungry cats and dogs (including a few puppies). The charity offers free neutering and some veterinary care for the islands animals. They also take in any strays they can find.
For now though, we are going to mooch around on the beach… probably not doing a whole lot until it gets cooler and napping doesn’t seem so appealing.
